Sometime in the next few days, once UPS gets it delivered to NYC, my entertainment system will join the modern age. It will be very "this century". In short, I'm upgrading nearly all of it now. Gone will be the Sony DVD player that has also been my CD player. Gone will be the Marantz AV-500 AV preamp, Dolby Pro-Logic I will not miss you. The jury is still out on the Marantz MA-700 monoblock amps I'm currently using to drive the Dunlavy SC-IVa speakers. (The Dunlavy speakers are staying, more on that in the extended entry.)
I stopped into my stereo store, also now my video store, Audio-Video Logic (AVL from here on out). I bought an AV receiver and blu-ray player from Denon, and suround speakers from Era. Cables from AudioQuest. (No, I didn't spend more on cables than on the gear itself.) I don't know that I have enough room in my apartment for all this, but that has never stopped me before.
I still need a different stand for the TV. AVL had one I liked, but I wasn't convinced it was sturdy enough for what I want to put on it. Oh well, the search continues.
When I told the dude at AVL about my Dunlavy's, he told me if I ever wanted to get rid of them they were "highly sought-after". I have been tortured by the fact that I love my SC-IVas more than life itself, but don't feel they are a good fit for my lifestyle right now. Now, oddly enough, I'm no longer tortured: I'll be keeping them.
My current plan is to use my current Marantz amps on the front chanels, via the pre-amp output on the receiver. But, somewhere in my current stereo setup, I have a ground loop problem. If it turns out to be in one of the amps, I'll just have to run front power thru the Denon. It doesn't have as much power as the Marantz amps, but it does have some kind of "assignable channels for bi-amping" which might have an interesting implication if I want to just go with 5.1 due to having only 5 channels of space in my place.
I bought an AV receiver rather than just an AV pre-amp, even though I'd rather have had a pre-amp with separate amplifiers. And they make them too. But when you get above the level of consumer-grade gear (read: crap) AV pre-amps go for upwards of $5000. I've been looking for them, and not found any that I would want to use myself. The problem is in the number of separates you'd need. An AV pre-amp and the separate amplifiers ends up being 8 or 9 separate components: 1 pre-amp, and 7 or 8 or 9 amplifiers. Even if the amps are cheap, in the $500 range, you are not going to get away cheap by having to buy 7 of them. Thus, receivers are basically the option for home entertainment systems, unless you are far richer than I am.
I bought Denon because of two handicaps, and three facts. The handicaps: 1). I wastn't leaving AVL without SOMETHING. I want this all done with, so I don't have to worry about it for another 10 years. So the choice was either Pioneer ES gear, or Denon. 2). I didn't have time to listen or compare any of this stuff, so I'm buying only on past experience. The facts in Denon's favor: 1). I've heard Denon systems and have always been impressed by them 2). The Denon I got has more HDMI inputs that the same-priced Pioneer. 3). I have not heard Pioneer systems on anything.
So, I went Denon.
Posted by Wookie at May 7, 2008 05:38 PM